Three British Muslims were jailed on Friday for planning what a court heard was an al Qaeda-backed plot to carry out a string of bombings that they hoped would rival 9/11 and the 2005 London attacks.
Ringleader Irfan Naseer received a life sentence, his right-hand man Irfan Khalid was jailed for 18 years and co-conspirator Ashik Ali was jailed for 15 years by a judge at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London.
Naseer, 31, and Khalid and Ali, both 28, were convicted in February of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, through an extremist plot to set off eight rucksack bombs in crowded areas and possibly other timed devices.
“Your plot had the blessing of al Qaeda and you intended to further the aims of al Qaeda,” Judge Richard Henriques said as he sentenced the three men.
The group, all from Birmingham in central England, was heavily influenced by the teachings of American-born al Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed by a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011, police said.
